Page 41 of The One You Want

My grandmother’s eyes narrowed. “If it isn’t serious—which I have to assume is the case, seeing as how I haven’t heard a word about this boy until now—then I see no reason why you can’t also seeBradford.”

I blinked a few times, wondering if I had misunderstood. “You want me to date Bradford even though I’m already seeing someone?” Of course, I wasn’t seeing anyone. But she didn’t know thatyet.

She rolled her eyes, as if I was being childish. “Surely the point of this casual dating your generation seems fond of is to get to know the person, yes? Why not get to know both of these boys at the sametime?”

“Because that would be…cheating?” How did she not seethat?

She breathed out an annoyed huff. “Please, Jennifer. It’s not like you’re engaged to thisboy.”

I wasn’t even dating him. But all of a sudden, the thought of telling her that seemed completely out of the question. Here she was, still pushing me at Bradford even when she believed me to have a boyfriend. I couldn’t even imagine what she would do if she knew I was single. I wouldn’t put it past her to have me marching down the aisle before I even knew what had hitme.

“It is serious,” I heard myself say before I’d consciously made the choice to speak. “With Grant. It’s serious, Grandmother. I’m not going to see someoneelse.”

She stilled in the act of stirring her tea, eyes locked on my face. “Then why haven’t I methim?”

I swallowed. What in the hell was I doing? I needed to tell her the truth, end Libby’s sillycharade.

“It hasn’t been that long,” I said instead. When her eyes lit up, her mouth poised to argue, I hurried to continue. “It’s one of those whirlwind things, you know? It all happened so fast but so intense all at the sametime.”

“That sounds familiar,” she muttered, and from the way her lips pursed I knew she wasn’t referring to her relationship with my grandpa. “I didn’t realize silly infatuations we’regenetic.”

I flushed as her meaning hit me—I was behaving like my father had with mymother.

“Grandmother, it isn’t like that. I’m not about to run away and elope or anything like that. But I do like him. And I wouldn’t feel at all right about seeing someoneelse.”

There. That wasn’t even a lie. I certainly wasn’t about to marry Grant, but I did like him. He was one of my closest friends. And I definitely wouldn’t feel right about seeing Bradford—for many, many reasons. Number one being that he gave me the creeps and the thought of kissing that smarmy, toothpaste-smile mouth was slightlynauseating.

My grandmother studied my face for a long moment, her displeasure evident. Finally, she sighed. “Darling, I didn’t want to talk about this, but I feel that I would be negligent in my duties if I didn’t express myconcerns.”

My stomach gave a nasty twist. “Whatconcerns?”

She leaned forward slightly, her face softening somewhat. But the icy glint in her eyes remained exactly the same. “Jennifer, you are twenty-eight now. It’s time you got serious about yourlife.”

I sucked in a breath. “I am serious,” I began, but she held up a thin, eleganthand.

“You are not. You have no career. No long-term relationship. No interest in learning the business of running the hotel. Your grandfather thought he could help you along, encourage you to meet a nice young man who could take care of you, and you throw it back in hisface.”

I just sat there, stunned, unable to offer even the slightest defense. Because she was right. I didn’t have a career or a long-term relationship. I didn’t want to run the hotel someday. The only thing I was truly serious about was my jewelry, but I could hardly use that as an argument. I made silly necklaces to hawk at craft fairs. Hardly something to base a lifearound.

“Of course, I’ve been telling your grandfather this for years,” she continued. “You should have been married ages ago. But he refused to see it.” She sniffed in dissatisfaction. “He’s far too indulgent with you, letting you run around without a care in the world all these years.” Her eyes blazed with sudden intensity. “But even he is at his wits end withyou.”

Shit. My grandmother had been dissatisfied with me pretty much since day one but my grandfather…if he started to put pressure on me to change the way things were, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy to stand up tohim.

“I just want you to keep that in mind,” she continued. “It may seem as if you can just fritter away your life indefinitely, but that is far from the truth. Don’t forget who controls the access to your trustfund.”

All the air seemed to rush out of me in a sharp whoosh. “Are you saying you’ll cut me off if I don’t date BradfordRutherford?”

She sniffed. “Do not be so dramatic, Jennifer. I am merely saying that you need to start taking your life more seriously. Behave in a manner that represents the generations of hard work of your family. If you can’t do that…” she trailed off, making a face as if the entire thing was suddenly too distasteful to endure. “Perhaps the four of us will have to sit down and have a discussion about the direction of your life. And how it will befunded.”

The four of us. For one crazy second I thought she meant Bradford, and then it hit me—my father. “You’d have to get him to show up first,” I muttered, and immediately regrettedit.

Her eyes blazed with anger. “Your father works harder than you can possibly imagine, young lady. And still he is dedicated and committed to this family. If your grandfather needed him at the hotel to deal with you, he would be here like that.” Her snapping fingers echoed loudly in the near silence of the empty cafe. I wondered, vaguely, if Mike had heard this entireexchange.

Most of my attention was snagged by her last sentence. If he was needed at the hotel to deal with me. Not to see me. Not to support me. Not to spend time with me. No, he hadn’t done any of those things in more years than I wanted tocount.

When it became clear that I had no response for her—I was too busy trying to keep myself from bursting into tears—my grandmother gave a final displeasured sniff and stood. “Get your life on track, Jennifer. If you can’t do that, we will be more than happy to do it foryou.”

And then, without so much as a goodbye, she wasgone.